Negotiating American Quality: the NBC Brand in Britain

Ideas of 'quality' have always been important to the US network NBC and its brand identity. This article examines what happens to the core values of 'quality' when NBC-related programming is imported to Britain, and charts how broadcasting publicity in two distinct periods talks about and thus defines quality. Whilst early definitions revolve around ideas of public service and adult address, quality becomes increasingly defined as self-evident, as about an experience of affect. The article seeks to unravel the complex relationship between brands, branding and definitions of quality in the transatlantic flow of US television into the UK.